Celtics make franchise history with Game 1 blowout win over 76ers

Story by

Story by
Celtics make franchise history with Game 1 blowout win over 76ers

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Sun, Apr 19, 2026 ·

3 min read

About Our Ads

BOSTON — The Celtics blitzed the 76ers early with their shot-making, then they never let the visitors put together a real comeback attempt. The end result was a commanding 123-91 victory over the Sixers in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.

The 32-point win will also go down in franchise history — that was the Celtics’ largest playoff-opening victory ever. Considering the many great teams the C’s have had over the years, it was an impressive showing to take the 1-0 series lead .

“We’re ready,” Jaylen Brown said. “We’re prepared. We were ready. So we just got to be ready every time we step out on the floor. But great tone-setter. A lot of great teams have played in a Celtics uniform, for us to have the biggest margin of victory in the home opener in a playoff game is great.”

The Sixers struggled with their shot-making all game, making just 4-for-23 (17.4%) of their 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the Celtics poured in 33 points in the first quarter while the Sixers mustered up just 18. That was all the Celtics needed as they outscored the Sixers in every quarter Sunday.

There was an inkling of momentum going the Sixers’ way midway through the third quarter. They cut the C’s lead down to 15 points with plenty of time left in the game. After the Celtics had back-to-back possessions where they put up a tough shot at the end of the shot clock, Philadelphia also came away with a transition opportunity.

Instead, the outlet pass was deflected by Brown to take the ball. Then Brown knocked in a 3-pointer. On the Celtics’ next possession, Nikola Vucevic sank his own 3-pointer to push the C’s lead all the way up to 21 points. The Sixers never threatened from there as they cruised to the blowout victory.

“The game’s just about managing your emotions,” Brown said. “Like they’re gonna go on runs. We’re gonna go on runs. But can’t let that kind of stampede and turn into momentum. So we just got to cut out the momentum plays. Right there, they were trying to get out, get a transition basket and we was able to stop it.”

Despite the impressive victory, the Celtics know Sunday was just one game in a seven-game series. This core knows what it takes to make a deep playoff run, so one blowout result going Boston’s way doesn’t mean much when it comes to preparing for the next game.

“It really starts with just understanding the injuries and Philly has had guys missing time, that they’re not really like a traditional seven seed,” Jayson Tatum said . “They’re a really, really talented team, great coaching staff. Nick Nurse is a championship coach.”

More Celtics content